Amid a surge in the country's inflation rate, a senior citizen died while another victim was injured after being hit by a truck while waiting in the queue outside a government office in Quezon City to purchase cheaper subsidized rice from the Department of Agriculture early Wednesday.

Its price is around P20 a kilo compared to around P50 a kilo in the market.

Based on initial investigation, the victims were waiting along the sidewalk of Visayas Avenue for the opening of the office of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in Barangay Vasra where the subsidized rice is sold when a pick up truck suddenly swerved onto the gutter and struck them around 4 am.

"The front right portion of the vehicle allegedly struck the victim, who was reportedly waiting in line to purchase subsidized rice from the Department of Agriculture," the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said in a statement.

"The vehicle continued moving forward and subsequently hit roadside signage, causing damage to both the signage and the vehicle upon impact," it added.

According to the QCPD, the unnamed senior citizen "sustained severe injuries and was immediately brought to East Avenue Medical Center for medical treatment. However, he was pronounced dead at 5:02 am on the same date by the attending physician."

In another statement, the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the other individual who sustained injuries is currently receiving medical treatment.

The DA quoted authorities saying that "the accident occurred about two hours before rice selling operations were scheduled to begin" and "the designated waiting and selling area, complete with chairs and tents, had been prepared inside the BAI compound."

Assistant Agriculture Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, who heads the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service and the KADIWA ng Pangulo program, expressed sorrow over the incident and appealed to beneficiaries to avoid arriving excessively early at distribution sites.

“We are deeply saddened by what happened,” Guevarra said.

“While we understand the eagerness of beneficiaries to secure their rice allocation, we encourage everyone to avoid lining up too early. We want to assure the public that there is sufficient rice supply available for those in need," she added.

Guevarra said the DA is coordinating closely with police authorities as the investigation continues and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to helping the victims and their families.

She also urged beneficiaries to use the online scheduling system of the P20 rice program to avoid long queues.

As the country recorded 7.2 percent inflation in April 2026 from 4.1 percent in March of the same year amid the global energy crisis due to the conflict in the Middle East, the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA)reported that rice was the top contributor of last month's inflation, which increase to 13.7 percent in April from 3.5 percent in March with a one percentage point share in the overall inflation rate followed by gasoline with a share of 0.9 percent.

To ease the rice prices, the government implemented a 30-day price cap of P50 per kilo for imported rice which started last May 14, 2026.

The Department of Agriculture also announced on Tuesday, its plan to implement a suggested retail price (SRP) of P53 per kilo for local rice. Robina Asido/PHS